Administrative Law:

Administrative law is the body of law that governs the activities of administrative
agencies of government. Government agency action can include rulemaking,
adjudication, or the enforcement of a specific regulatory agenda. Administrative law is
considered a branch of public law. As a body of law, administrative law deals with the
decision-making of administrative units of government (e.g., tribunals, boards or
commissions) that are part of a national regulatory scheme in such areas as police law,
international trade, manufacturing, the environment, taxation, broadcasting, immigration
and transport. Administrative law expanded greatly during the twentieth century, as
legislative bodies worldwide created more government agencies to regulate the
increasingly complex social, economic and political spheres of human interaction.

Law of France

French law can be divided into two main categories: private law ("droit privé") and public
law ("droit public").

Judicial law includes, in particular:

* civil law ("droit civil"); and

* criminal law ("droit pénal").

Public law includes, in particular:

* administrative law ("droit administratif"); and

* constitutional law ("droit constitutionnel").

Administrative law in France - Droit administratif en France

French administrative law is the most important part of French public law. It includes all
the legal rules governing the administrative activities of public entities and private
individuals. In France, monitoring its implementation is ensured by a set of jurisdictions
that are administrative justice.

Initially, it is a judge-made law, that is to say basically formed by the courts. However,
with the integration of legal sources of higher value and an attempt at codification of
administrative law, this character is sometimes seriously questioned at the expense of
flexibility and adaptation to changing the law.

Conseil d'État

The State Council is, in France, a public institution charged with two main tasks: it is the
government adviser and the highest courts of the administrative order. The French
judicial system knows, in fact, the duality of orders of court (judicial and administrative).
(The supreme judge in the judiciary is the Court of Cassation, the conflicts of jurisdiction
between the two orders is decided by the Disputes Tribunal.)

In its advisory, the State Council must be consulted by the Government for a number of
acts, including bills. In its adjudicative role, he is the supreme judge in certain matters
(including exceptions for appeals against decisions taken by a public authority). He
served in Paris at the Palais-Royal. His vice-president (who is the de facto President of
the Council) is the first official of the State: as such, it presents the president's wishes all
organs of state, speaking on behalf of the Public public, the judiciary, public enterprises,
etc.

The administrative courts of appeal are chaired by a Councillor of State. Other judges of
administrative courts and administrative courts of appeal judges are part of the same
body, the advisers of the administrative courts and the administrative courts of appeal.
They are recruited through the NAS, by posting, by competition or by the turn out. They
are irremovable.

Judicial Branch
Main article: Judiciary of France

French law provides for a separate judicial branch with an independent judiciary which does
not answer to or is directly controlled by the other two branches of government. France has a
civil law legal system, the basis of which is codified law; however, case law plays a
significant role in the determination of the courts. The most distinctive feature of the French
judicial system is that it is divided into judicial and administrative streams.

Judicial courts

The judicial stream of courts adjudicates civil and criminal cases. The judicial court stream
consists of inferior courts, intermediate appellate courts, and the French Supreme Court.

Judges are government employees but are granted special statutory protection from the
executive. Judges have security of tenure and may not be promoted (or demoted) without their
consent. Their careers are overseen by the Judicial Council of France.

The public prosecutors, on the other hand, takes order from the Minister of Justice. In the
past, this has bred suspiscion of undue political pressure to dismiss suits or claims against
government officials charged with corruption, and the status of public prosecutors and their
ties to government are frequently topics of debate.

Trial by jury is available only for severe criminal cases ,which are the jurisdiction of the
Courts of Assizes. A full Court is made up of a 3-judge panel and a petty jury of 9 jurors (vs.
12 jurors on appeal), who, together, render verdicts, and if a conviction is handed down, also
determine a sentence. Jurors are selected at random from eligible voters.

In most other courts, judges are professional, except that the criminal court for minors is
composed of one professional and two lay judges. Also, several specialty courts of original
jurisdiction are sat by judges who are elected into office. For instance, labor tribunals are
staffed with an equal number of magistrates from employers' unions and employees' unions.
The same applies to land estate tribunals.
Pre-trial proceedings are inquisitorial by nature, but open court proceedings are adversarial.
The burden of proof in criminal proceedings is on the prosecution, and the accused is
constitutionally presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Administrative courts

Courts of administrative law adjudicate on claims and suits against government offices and
agencies. The administrative stream is made up of administrative courts, courts of
administrative appeal, and the Council of State as the court of last resort.

The Council of State hears cases against executive branch decisions and has the power to
quash or set aside executive-issued statutory instruments such as orders and regulations when
they violate constitutional law, enacted legislation, or codified law.

Court proceedings mostly involve written hearings and are inquisitorial, with judges having
the parties submit written testimony or arguments.

Any jurisdictional dispute between the judicial and administrative streams are settled by a
special court called Tribunal des conflits, or "Court of Jurisdictional Dispute", composed of
an equal number of Supreme Court justices and councillors of State.